Windows Phone

Ok, I’m biased. Let’s get that out of the way up front. I am a fan of the Windows Phone and it’s user interface. I think the live tiles, informative lock screen and application contracts offer a far superior experience to Android and iOS. Regardless of my preference I believe that at this point it is inexcusable for all but the smallest companies to ignore Windows Phone. There has been one big reason for the lack of adoption Windows Phone: Apps! About 75% (not a scientific number) of the people that ......

Just a small rant here. Today the Windows Phone 8 GDR2 update finally became available for Nokia handset users. Now I’m not sure that it is AT&T fault entirely that Samsung and HTC users got their updates two months ago and we are just finally seeing it. It may have something to do with the Nokia Amber update. But every Windows Phone update on AT&T from 7.1 on seems to have been delayed. How is it that the premiere Windows Phone carrier is always the last one to release updates? Smart phone ......

Creating mobile applications is challenging, but Microsoft just made it easy for most people to create their own Windows Phone apps. People talk about Indie gaming. The Windows Phone App Studio allows people to create apps to share with their family and friends (as long as they have an App Studio account) using a WYSWYG style web site. Whether you want an app for your kid’s team, an app that introduces your company or an app for an upcoming event the App Studio can allow you to build them on your ......

This review is more person to me since I have known Matt Hidinger for a couple of years now and the fact that he just announced that he is leaving Chicago to join the Windows Phone team at Microsoft in Redmond. So let me first say congratulations to him again. Now I can’t say that I always agree with Matt, but I do respect him. One area that we disagree on (at least from his statement during this presentation) is that the official Twitter app is a good platform example. His point was more that they ......

Even the simplest of smart phone apps can be a challenge to give a compelling UI regardless of the platform. Windows Phone and XAML are no exception. That is what got my interest in this session by Shawn Oster. He took a checklist type approach to the subject is good considering that is about the only way that many us get things done. Shawn started out giving us a set of bad design/good design examples. They very effectively showed how good design gives a sense of professionalism to your app that ......

Generation App is the place for developers to get started building solutions on the latest Microsoft technologies. I originally understood it to be for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 development, but you can sign up for a 30 day adventure to build web apps and framework based apps as well. When you sign up you get a list of subject areas to study in order to create the best application possible. You also get daily emails with links to content to help you progress and helpful YouTube videos. The real ......

There are a lot of conditions that you have to deal with when creating mobile applications that do not present themselves in other types of development. The largest elephant in the room is the unpredictable nature of network connectivity. This doesn’t just affect if you can send a message across the internet but also your location services. And strangely enough there are times where you may have one and not the other because of the type of network you are currently accessing. The first connection ......

While I post on a regular basis, Twitter has become my pointer to any blogs that I read. I haven’t logged into a RSS app or Google Reader in a long time. When Feed Reader was featured on a web site recently (sorry but I can’t remember which one) I decided to give it a try. It logged directly to my old Google Reader account which made getting started a breeze. That app easily shares links via Twitter or saves them to Instapaper. The wildest feature is that it will audibly read each post. I can’t say ......

Your Enterprise Windows Phone 7.5 application has different requirements and restrictions than the majority of apps in the store. While we now have Windows Phone 8 with different distribution methods, your client may still have 7.X devices that require using targeted distribution via the store. You need to consider how to allow the certification team to test your app without exposing sensitive data or affecting production systems. There are a few choices you have: Supply the testing team with test ......

Over the last couple of weeks I have noticed that Microsoft seems to have changed the requirements for Corporate accounts. These requirements were not in effect when I originally setup the account for the company that I work for. We also recently had our corporate account canceled without explanation and are in the process of working to get it reinstated. This all seems to revolve around rules to increase confidence that in the producers of content. They are now having Symantec validate a company ......

Tim is a Solutions Architect for PSC Group, LLC. He has been an IT consultant since 1999 specializing in Microsoft technologies. Along with running the Chicago Information Technology Architects Group and speaking on Microsoft and architecture topics he was also contributing author on "The Definitive Guide to the Microsoft Enterprise Library".